In the Netherlands, the brand new Holocaust museum opens this Monday, March 11 to the public. Its inauguration on Sunday was disrupted by several pro-Palestinian demonstrations denouncing the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Before them, around 200 mosques in the country had urged the king not to receive the Israeli head of state. A controversy in which the pro-Israel Dutch far right and at the gates of power largely participated.
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With our correspondent in Amsterdam, Antoine Mouteau
During King Willem-Alexander’s televised speech, the Dutch could hear the screams of hundreds of people outside. These pro-Palestinian demonstrators arrive at the end of a long march through the center of Amsterdam. For nearly six hours, they protested against the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the inauguration of the new Holocaust museum.
Sarah, 22, came on purpose from The Hague, an hour from Amsterdam, to make her voice heard: “ There is still a genocide going on in Palestine, in Gaza. So how can someone who himself advocates genocide open a Holocaust museum? This is hypocrisy at its worst. »
Pro-Palestinians accused of anti-Semitism by the far right
A few hours earlier, some of the demonstrators booed people leaving the Portuguese synagogue where the king’s inauguration speech was held. Several violent incidents took place and the police made around ten arrests.
Sunday’s rallies are causing a lot of noise in the Netherlands, in particular because the Dutch anti-Islam far right, the big winner in the November legislative elections, says it is pro-Israel and accuses the pro-Palestinians of anti-Semitism. Far-right MP Geert Wilders, who is still trying to form a government of the right, center and far-right with himself as prime minister, has called the protesters scum and advocates their expulsion from the Netherlands. Down.
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